Dream a Little Dream of Me
by Mrs Dizzy
Summary: The Doctor and the Ponds are off to a grand adventure when suddenly someone who couldn't possibly be there appears on the TARDIS. Is it real or just another elaborate dream? Inspired by 'Amy's Choice'
1. Stars shining bright above you…

_A/N: Dear Reader, I am only a recent Doctor Who viewer. How recent? I watched most of the series with Donna Noble as the companion and the latest one with the 11th Doctor. Therefore, my knowledge of the Who universe is shockingly limited. However, my head tends to get filled with these rather silly stories (maybe there is a crack in my bedroom wall?) and they need to get out. This is the result. I hope you like it._

_Oh and - Doctor Who blah blah blah isn't mine but my mind is (most of the time anyway)._

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**Dream a Little Dream of Me**

_Stars shining bright above you…_

By now, Amy, and Rory as well, had become used to the Doctor's hyperactive fiddling with the controls of the TARDIS.

However, Rory suspected that the reason why so many seemingly random motions were involved in operating the TARDIS was more because the Doctor didn't really know what all the buttons, levers and controls did. Most of the time, getting everything right seemed just a matter of pure dumb luck.

Then again, Rory thought, the Doctor seemed to have an infinite supply of that. Or maybe, perhaps maybe, there was a method to his manic behaviour and Rory was just too ape brained to see it. Whatever it was, he'd become used to the Doctor's rambling and ranting ways. And his occasional gleeful shouting.

The Doctor sometimes reminded him of his grandfather. As Amy told him, the Doctor was ancient by human standards of time so the comparison wasn't that bad. Plus Rory had loved his grandfather. And he was quite fond of the Doctor.

Yet, the fact that the Doctor looked a lot younger than Rory was still a bit of a mind boggle. And that he passed as a reasonably attractive human male still worried him a bit.

Truth be told, he was more worried about Amy than the Doctor, as the latter seemed to be rather unaware of how attractive he was, though he displayed some vanity sometimes. Amy, however, was a different story.

"Rory, can you pull the red knob over there?" the Doctor instructed him. The last of the Gallifreyans was typing some coordinates into the TARDIS with one hand while the other was busy pushing buttons.

Rory did as instructed. He was sure that if he'd had the time to look at the TARDIS's operating manual – which Amy told him had been burned supernova style – he'd be able to understand all the controls. The Doctor had been relying on Rory's help more and more often 'driving' the TARDIS, that the man had a vague idea what some of the controls did.

He still wasn't too sure about the physics of the whole time and space travel thing. He wished he'd paid more attention to the books and articles he'd read after the whole Prisoner Zero event. He knew that the TARDIS's inside was a whole different dimension, though fully understanding the concept gave him a mild headache, so he avoided over thinking it. The Doctor had advised the same.

All he was sure of was that whenever the TARDIS landed and they stepped out of the doors, there was always something and somewhen different outside. And he couldn't say that he didn't find a little thrill in that.

Rory looked over to where Amy, his now wife, was calmly waiting for bright pink nail polish to dry.

Amy, his wife. Every time he thought of this, he felt a warmth spread inside of him and a goofy smile across his face. She looked up and smiled at him, which only made his smile goofier.

"Lady and gentle Rory, any second now we'll be touching down on the planet Leron – the bluest, iciest, most magically beautiful diamond winter planet resort in this region of space and time. I think you're going to like it very much."

The Doctor looked at them both, beaming his big child-like smile. About an hour ago, Amy expressed a desire for winter – particularly snow. Now, Rory had never been a big fan of snow. Snow usually meant cold and he hated being cold. But seeing the excitement – and insistence – on his wife's face at the prospect of winter and the Doctor's enthusiastic waxing on the planet Leron, he'd caved and now was almost as , if even more, excited as the other two to explore this whole new world.

"And with time travel being such a convenience – some of the time, anyway – I've managed to make a back reservation for today," the Doctor continued proudly, turning around to put on a big winter coat.

Amy had been digging around in the massive wardrobe to find appropriate winter clothes. When she'd come back with jumpers, coats, mittens, thermal underwear, wooly hats and a multi-colored woolen scarf, the Doctor had immediately grabbed the item of clothing and exclaimed "There you are, I've been looking for you! I knew I had a spare somewhere…" He'd been operating the TARDIS wearing that thing around his neck for the past hour, even though he had expressed earlier that he didn't really need winter clothes on account of his anatomy.

One of these days, Rory was going to ask the Doctor more about his anatomy. Purely out of medical and scientific interest, of course.

The TARDIS made that strange breathing noise, which told Rory that they were there. He suspected that the TARDIS shouldn't be making the noise, but the Doctor seemed to be childishly fond of it, so he never really asked.

They all finished dressing, the read out on the TARDIS's monitor saying it would be below freezing outside. They looked a little ridiculous – everything seemed a bit mismatched – but Rory thought that Amy was pulling off the bright red tights, the orange coat, the almost neon green cap and mittens.

The Doctor ran excitedly towards the doors, turned and grinned at Rory and Amy.

"Ponds, welcome to Leron!"

"Huh."

The Doctor's rather confused face made Rory certain that the voice he'd just heard didn't belong to anyone who'd been on the TARDIS a second before.

He and Amy turned to look at the source of the sound and were very surprised to see a fourth person in the TARDIS, looking just as confused as they felt.

"You…" the Doctor said, and Rory and Amy turned towards him.

He looked rather shocked. The Doctor took a step towards them – towards the stranger.

"How can you be here?"

tbc


	2. Birds singin' in the sycamore tree…

_A/N: Doctor Who still not mine but a girl can dream..._

**Dream a Little Dream of Me**

_Birds singin' in the sycamore tree…_

"I honestly don't know," the stranger replied. A humanoid female.

She looked as human as she did, Amy thought. Or time lord, as the Doctor once told her.

"How can you possibly be here? It is impossible!" the Doctor said, approaching the stranger.

Amy had never seen him so flustered. She, whoever this woman was, obviously wasn't a stranger to him. Who could this person be to make her Doctor look so completely unsure of himself?

"Doctor?" Amy asked, hoping to get an explanation.

Through all the adventures she'd had with him – and there had been epic universe ending and restoring ones -, she'd seen a range of the Doctor's emotion – grief to anger, sadness to joy, doubt to arrogance borne out of knowing that he was The Doctor, but she'd never seen this.

She could not explain this. Simultaneous hope and fear, but much more complex than that.

"It's highly improbable, but not impossible," the woman calmly argued.

There was a twitch on the Doctor's face. Amy interpreted it as an amused smile, like a response to a old shared joke.

"The spores might be acting up again," he mumbled, walking around the woman, scrutinizing her closely. She watched his movements, her face showing a hint of disconcertment but also acceptance, as if she expected this.

"What? Like that time that I was a doctor and Amy was…" Rory made a gesture around his belly. Amy glared at him and he quickly dropped his arms.

"Doctor?" she asked again, watching him reach out a hand to touch the woman but stop shortly before he made contact. His arm dropped and she could see him rubbing his fingers. A habit, she noticed, whenever he was processing something.

"You two, I need you to stand over there," he said, pointing to the farthest spot on the console away from the woman.

There was fear coming through in his voice, which made the two of them nervous.

"Who is she, Doctor?" Amy asked, determined not to move until she had an explanation.

"I said, you two, move over there," the Doctor said more forcefully this time, looking at them.

It was the tone of his voice that made Rory grab Amy's arm and drag her over to the spot the Doctor had indicated.

The Doctor whipped out his sonic screw driver and pointed it at the woman. She looked calm, as of this was routine to her. He read the analysis, frowned and then took a step back to look at her fully.

"You look nothing like you and yet I know it's you. The sonic is saying it's you. I bet if I asked the TARDIS it would recognize you as you. Therefore, it cannot possibly be you."

The woman smiled, "Considering what happened – or is it still about to happen? What time are we in right now? – anyway, I agree. I cannot possibly be here, at this point in your time line. Yet, here I am. And I'd really like an explanation for that."

"So would I," the Doctor said, leaning against the console of the TARDIS. There were about three seconds of silence, while the Doctor looked lost in thought.

"Occam's Razor," he said.

"What does that mean?" Amy asked from the other side of the console.

"Spores," Rory replied.

The Doctor moved to look around the center at the two of them and beamed at Rory, "Excellent deduction, my good man."

"Spores?" the woman asked.

"If it is the spores, why you?" the Doctor asked.

"Spores?" the woman asked again.

The Doctor dismissively waved his hand, "Psychedelic spores, trapped in the TARDIS, inducing a dream state…blah blah blah…Amy loves Rory…I blew up the TARDIS…blah blah blah…"

"He was the Dream Lord," Amy supplied.

"I got killed in one of the dreams," Rory added.

The woman turned to look at the two of them and then back at the Doctor, "Spores."

"Exactly. Spores. Why you? Why now? Why?"

She frowned as if trying to concentrate on something, "I have a feeling I should know, but I don't. More precisely, I don't remember."

"Of course you don't know! You're not real!" the Doctor exclaimed, resuming his pacing around her.

"I feel quite real. In fact, I feel. Which is throwing me off at the moment. I don't remember feeling to be this…overwhelming," the woman said, suddenly looking a bit dizzy. She took a step back, stumbled but the Doctor quickly reacted and caught her. His touch surprised her as much as it did him and she immediately pushed him away, to the effect that both fell backwards. He bumped into the console of the TARDIS. She hit the railings.

Amy and Rory rushed forward. She grabbed the Doctor's arms, while Rory attended to the woman.

"Are you alright?" they both asked simultaneously.

"Yes, yes…nothing broken," the other two replied just as simultaneously.

The four of them looked at each other and then broke out in nervous laughter.

"This has to be a dream," Amy proclaimed, though she wasn't sure why she thought it was. It felt real.

"Yeah," Rory said, but the look on his face told Amy that he was just agreeing with her because he was Rory.

But then she remembered that the other time had felt quite real too.

Then again, she further argued with herself, the situation they were in now, even though she didn't know exactly what the situation was considering she didn't know who the woman was, didn't feel as unusual as all the other quite real situations, so basically, she was just really confused now.

"But what if it's not?" she asked aloud.

"Yeah," Rory said again and this made her glare at him briefly.

"If it's not, then I don't know what this is," the Doctor said.

The woman sighed and looked at the Doctor, "Would it be better if it were a dream?"

The Doctor had folded his arms and was once again leaning against the console, "Possibly."

The woman cocked her head, "Why?"

"Why?" the Doctor exclaimed, straightening a bit.

The woman mimicked his crossed arms, "Yes, why? It is the eternal question, isn't it?"

"Why would it be better if you were a dream? Because then you wouldn't be real," the Doctor said. Amy didn't know why, but she heard a trace of cruelty in his tone.

"And if I'm not real?" the woman asked, her voice soft.

The Doctor looked at her squarely, "Then it wouldn't mean anything."

It was there for just a second, but Amy had seen it - a flicker of hurt in the woman's eyes. She recognized it, had felt it before. All the way back when this adventure had started and she'd asked the Doctor if there was a reason why he'd invited her and he'd said there wasn't one.

The Doctor and the woman were staring at each other now. He broke the eye contact first.

"No, actually it would. It would mean so much more," he mumbled.

Amy looked at Rory, hoping that he had more of a clue of what was going on. But Rory shrugged at her just as lost.

At least he was able to ask her immediate question, "It would?"

The Doctor looked at the two of them, clearly avoiding the woman's eyes, "Yes."

"Why?" the woman asked

He still couldn't look at her, "Why?"

"Yes, why?" She took a step towards him.

He looked at her, "Because then you would come from the bits of me that I hide away, even from myself."

She frowned, "I see."

He shook his head sadly, "I don't think you do."

She shrugged her shoulder, "Well, maybe I do."

He cocked his head, "How?"

"If I am a manifestation of the bits that you hide away from yourself, then I know more than you know. At least I know something that you don't allow yourself to know. And since I am here, and your – what's that psychiatrist's word? – ah yes - subconscious is pushing through to make you aware of the thing you don't want to know, then it must be important."

Amy looked at the Doctor and he seemed to be considering the woman's argument. It did sound vaguely logical to her, but what did she know? She didn't even know who this woman was supposed to be – manifestation or not.

The woman shrugged her shoulder again, "Or you're just simply losing your mind."

This made the Doctor laugh, "Now that's a possibility."

They shared a smile that sparked a thought in Amy's head. But the thought was so mind boggling that she immediately dismissed it as absurd. But was it? It was no less absurd than the situation here.

The woman reached out to touch her own arm and rubbed it, "On the other hand, I could be real. I'm very much convinced that I am. And if I am, then think about what it means. It has to mean something very important, don't you think? I mean, why me? Why now? Why? Or is this one those quirky universe things were it just feels like doing something because it can? Coincidence and all that?"

The woman reached out to touch Rory's arm and then looked at her hand with wonder, "Maybe it would be better if I am just a projection of your subconscious. If I am, I am quite flattered."

She turned to look at the Doctor, waved her hands around her body, "But why this form? Why not my old one? Or is that just too…"

"If I assume you're real and you turn out not to be, what would the consequences be?" the Doctor interrupted her.

"Just proof of my madness? I was always suspect of my sanity, so to have a confirmation one way or the other would be nice. Will it result in total destruction of the universe? Again?"

The Doctor began to pace in front of the group.

"Obviously, I hope not, but what if the universe was supposed to end? I wonder sometimes. Even this fools journey has to end, so why not with a big bang? Hold on, did that already. Or something like it."

The Doctor stopped pacing and looked at the three of them, "I'm kind of fond of existing but maybe that's just because I'm a stubborn fool."

The woman smiled fondly, "You are stubborn and a fool but also a hopeless romantic. That is why you haven't given up on the universe yet. I know it has given you enough reasons to."

The Doctor pointed at himself, looking incredulous, "Hopeless romantic? Me?"

Amy rolled her eyes, "You are, Doctor. No sense in denying it."

He looked equal parts flattered and insulted, "Well, I…hmmm…"

Amy and the woman shared a smile, the kind that most sentient females of the species did when dealing with the male of the species.

The Doctor recovered, "Anyway, what if you're real and I don't think you are? What are the consequences of that?"

The pacing resumed and the rapid fire self-arguing, "Because if you are real, then it must mean something. Surely, the universe cannot be so…kind as to give me this. It has to be something big. Huge. Then again, I restarted the fire, so maybe it's just its way of thanking me. But that's not how it works. And why in your form? That doesn't make sense."

He looked at the woman, making vague gestures with his arms, "Not that I dislike your form. I quite like it actually. But if you are just a figment of my imagination, wouldn't I imagine you the way I last saw you? Unless, my subconscious has always wondered what would have happened if you'd been given the chance to…"

"Doctor, can you please stop rambling for a second and answer this simple question – who is she?" Amy interrupted impatiently.

She knew if she didn't interfere now, the Doctor would never stop and he'd be caught in a never ending loop of his own argument. Yes, she too wanted to know all the answers of how and why but right now she just wanted to know who. Who was the woman?

The Doctor stopped in his tracks, a little startled by Amy's outburst. He looked at her, at Rory, at the center of the TARDIS and then at the woman. Then back at Amy.

She saw the conflict in his eyes. The joy. The pain. The hope.

"She cannot be but possibly is my wife."

tbc


	3. Night breezes seem to whisper…

**Dream a Little Dream of Me**

_Night breezes seem to whisper…_

"Your wife?" Amy exclaimed in disbelief.

Rory was shocked speechless. The tiny bit of his brain that was still coherent, and surprisingly rational, told him that it wasn't such a shocking thing, considering. The man was several hundred years old and he'd been around, very much so, so the probability of having been married, even once, wasn't that preposterous.

However, when Rory finally recovered, the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "I don't understand."

"Neither do I," the Doctor and the woman said, looked at each other and laughed.

"This is not dispelling the theory of you being me and me being you," she said.

"And we are all together," Rory said. The three of them looked at him.

He shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry."

"Your wife?" Amy said again. Rory looked at his wife, and he considered that it was just him projecting on her, but he detected a hint of jealousy. He didn't have the time to analyze this.

"You never told them," the Doctor's wife said. It was between a question and a statement.

The Doctor looked at her, then at Amy, back at her, back at Amy and then finally at Rory.

"It's complicated," he said, looking at Rory.

"I'm sorry," he said further.

The woman sighed, "It is complicated."

"You were married?" Amy asked and Rory didn't like hysterical note in her voice. He looked at the Doctor, who was looking at the woman.

There was sadness in him, the kind of sadness only a man who'd lost someone he loved could understand.

"Once upon a time," the woman said, smiling sadly. The Doctor returned the sad smile.

"You never go back, do you?" she asked him.

He shook his head, "Never. I can't.

"I'm so very sorry," she said.

"Me too."

Something occurred to Rory, something he knew he should have noticed at the very beginning, but because his mind was still processing everything that had happened in the last – he wasn't too sure about time anymore – whatever, he could not say what it was that niggled at the back of his brain. It was important, or at least significant enough for him to be concerned about it, but at the moment he could not say what it was.

So he said the things that did stick out, "So does this mean that she's supposed to be dead?"

He did not expect the back of Amy's hand to hit him so hard on the nose.

"Rory!" she said, glaring at him while he clutched his nose. The glare alone could make him nosebleed, but by some small miracle, she hit him just hard enough for it to hurt like the dickens but not to bleed.

"Well, technically, more or less, I am," the woman replied, looking more amused than offended.

"Which brings us back to the problem at hand," the Doctor said, completely ignoring Rory's pain.

"Ish beal ow ishnt shweal?" Rory asked, still clutching his nose. Amy reached for his hands and took them off his face, checked for bleeding and then declared that he was going to be fine.

"It hurts!" Rory complained to her.

She rolled her eyes at him, "Be a man!"

"I am a man," Rory whined, and he knew in that moment, for the rest of his Amy loving life, he'd be saying this over and over again. And one day, he'll say it with full conviction.

Amy, now satisfied that Rory was going to survive, turned back to the situation at hand.

"If you, technically, more or less are supposed to be dead, how are you here?"

The Doctor just shook his head in frustration, "We are talking in circles, aren't we?"

"Some geometrical shape, I guess," his supposed wife answered.

"Oh that is so you," the Doctor said, unable to suppress a fond smile.

She winked at him, "You know me."

"Unless I decide whether you are real or not, we're not going to be able to move on from this, much less do anything else, are we?"

"That is my conclusion," she replied.

"So are you real or are you not real?"

"What do you want me to be?"

The Doctor frowned, "That is not the point."

"I guess not, but what if it is?"

The Doctor scowled at her, "Stop confusing me woman!"

She scowled back at him, "I'm sorry. But I think I have quite a big stake in whether I'm real or not. And, sorry, if my preference that your preference is that I'm real upsets you. But my existence is in question here and I don't like it. I don't like it one bit."

The Doctor approached her, "Look, it's not like I don't want you to be real. In fact, I cannot possibly tell you how much I want you to be real. But it is just bloody complicated and I don't think my hearts can take it if…"

He couldn't finish the sentence. He stood so close to her that he could feel her breathe and in that moment, nothing had ever felt so real than that breath on his skin.

"Hearts?" Rory asked unnaturally loud, his brain having picked up that rather strange fact.

The Doctor and the woman looked at him. She smiled, "I'm assuming he hasn't told you about that either."

"I knew," Amy volunteered. Rory looked at her.

"You knew the Doctor has two hearts and you didn't think that would be an interesting, maybe important thing to tell me?"

Amy shrugged her shoulders, "So? Considering what we've seen, that didn't seem so unusual or interesting."

"But I'm a nurse," he said.

Amy just gave him the "So what?" look so he added, "And your husband."

"I thought you two were married," the woman commented, smiling delightedly.

The Doctor beamed at her, "They do make a rather fabulously interesting couple. Could do with less bickering, but no one's perfect."

"You love bickering," the woman retorted.

"I do not. I like having discussions," the Doctor volleyed back.

"Discussions? It's not a discussion if you're trying to convince someone of your side of the argument while completely ignoring the validity of the other person's side of the argument," she shot back.

"I usually do have a valid point," he said.

"So do I," she said.

"I know you do. Which is very infuriating," he said.

"Infuriating?" she asked.

"Infuriating might be the wrong word. Frustrating," he said.

"Frustrating?" her tone was up an octave.

"Not frustrating. Damn, Earth language is rather limiting," he said and then proceeded in a language that both Rory and Amy could not compare to any language on they'd ever heard.

The woman responded just in kind and the quick exchange of, they assumed, words was rather compelling to watch. Something about the tone– well modulated to earth ears – made it sound like they were discussing weather. But it was unmistakable that a heated argument was going on.

"She's definitely winning," Amy whispered.

"You think so?" Rory whispered back. He wondered if he and Amy looked this elegant when they bickered and knew that they didn't. Not Amy. She was fireworks and passion and he wouldn't want her any other way.

"I love you, you know," he said, just because he thought she should be reminded of it. Again.

She looked at him, touched him lightly, almost apologetically on the nose, "I love you too, you daft man."

"That is it! I have decided that you must be real. Because I cannot possibly be this mad," the Doctor said in English.

"Are you calling me insane?" the woman testily answered.

The reverting back to English was a bit jarring for Rory and Amy, particularly because English sounded far harsher after that rather melodious language.

"I am not calling you insane, woman!" the Doctor said, "I have merely come to the conclusion that you must be the real you because my imagination could not possibly duplicate you this perfectly. This is you. You in all your glorious and maddening facets and twists and beautiful asides, you who I cannot recreate in the deepest, loneliest, starving recesses of my soul because it would only be a pale, undeserving, almost insulting copy of the vibrant, passionate, wonderfully fascinating you."

Silence fell as the Doctor and the woman looked at each other.

"I think that is the most beautiful thing you've ever said to me." She smiled.

"It is the truth," he replied.

For once Rory saw the Doctor not as this fantastical being, this sometimes irritating know-it-all, competition for Amy's affection, but a man who loved someone with all his being and had lost her. And for a tiny fraction of time, he felt that he and the Doctor were the same.

The woman frowned, "I'm very sure if I go over what you just said, I will come to the conclusion that you still consider me insane, but …"

The Doctor interrupted her, "This is you," and smiled at her with the kind of affection that spoke of years knowing each other.

She reciprocated the smile, "I think it is."

"So, she's real then?" Amy asked.

"Yes," the Doctor answered.

"Are you sure?" Rory asked. "She's not a dream or a plastic machine automajigger or some other weird alien thing?"

"Well, compared to you she is alien," the Doctor said.

"Pedant," the woman mumbled affectionately, which made Amy smile.

"I know, I know. I apologize, Rory," the Doctor said, walking over to him and giving an awkward matey pat.

"So she's real," Rory said.

The Doctor nodded, "As real as real can be. Or something like that."

"Are you sure?" the woman asked, narrowing her eyes.

He looked at her, "What? Are we starting this again? I made a choice and I'm sticking to it."

She still had her eyes narrowed, "I don't know. I know you. You are devious. And I don't think you're entirely convinced that this is not a dream. But choosing this as reality is more logical because if something happens in this quote unquote reality and it is in fact a dream, you lose nothing. Well, that's debatable but I don't want to go into that train of thought at the moment, because I have another one I need to finish but I'm not quite sure what it was…oh yes, now I do. And if this is in fact reality, as real as reality can be, then being extra cautious would be good, because actions do matter here."

"I'm confused again," Amy said.

"I'm still confused," Rory said.

The woman looked at them kindly, "To make it simple. He's decided to consider this situation real, but hasn't made his mind up yet. So, just think that I'm real."

"Okay, I can deal with that," Amy said.

Following his wife's acceptance of the situation, he noticed that she was still wearing the winter clothes. In fact, they were all still wearing their winter clothes.

He automatically unbuttoned the rather bulky coat he was wearing, surprised that he wasn't feeling hot in it. Amy noticed what he was doing and took her woolen cap as well as the mittens off.

And then that thought that had been niggling at the back of his mind the very first moment he saw the woman that had alerted him to something else odd going on, niggled itself free and announced itself in the loudest, how could he have not noticed this before, way possible.

Except for a translucent smock, the woman was wearing nothing at all.

tbc


	4. Stars fading but I linger on…

**Dream a Little Dream of Me**

_Stars fading but I linger on…_

It had occurred to Amy on several occasions before that, despite him being a qualified nurse, Rory was rather uncomfortable with general nudity.

It also occurred to Amy that not noticing the woman being virtually starkers until Rory had started with his embarrassed prude-someone's-naked-and-I-don't-know-them-very-well dance, must say volumes about the sort of things she had seen since she'd met the Doctor.

The Doctor and the woman seemed to be rather oblivious to the state of her undress, but did look at Rory with concern. His fidgeting was hard to ignore.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked, taking a step towards him.

He quickly stepped back and held his coat out in front of him, a modesty shield.

Amy almost laughed at his panicked face, his actions more comical than effective.

Unfortunately, the woman and the Doctor weren't taking the hint and looked more concerned than before.

Amy supposed that the easiest thing to do was just to state the obvious. However, Amy didn't have the heart to embarrass the woman like that.

So she relied on the age old communication device called 'pointing with your eyes and hoping something got through'.

She must have looked like she was having a seizure because the woman was now looking at her with concern. And then perhaps because the woman was a little psychic or Amy's eye gesturing was just too bizarre to ignore, something seemed to click in the woman's eyes.

She looked at Rory and his coat, at Amy and then down at herself.

"I'm not wearing any clothes," she announced, as if it was the most normal thing in the universe.

The Doctor looked at her, his eyes roving over her form then declared, "Oh."

"You're not very fond of nudity," the woman said to Rory, making him look even more uncomfortable. Amy hadn't thought it was possible.

"As a species, they sort of evolved away from nudity," the Doctor stated.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Well, so did we."

"Only because we went travelling," the Doctor replied.

The Doctor took his coat off, offered it to his wife. She put it on, held the front together and smiled at Rory teasingly, "Better?"

Amy couldn't help herself from giggling at Rory's sigh of relief. He did have the good grace to blush.

"There's a wardrobe full of clothes," Amy offered.

The woman beamed, "How delightful."

Then something occurred to her, "We haven't been introduced properly."

The Doctor stepped forward. "Allow me. These are the Ponds," he said, smiling proudly.

"I'm Amy. That's Rory," Amy pointed at him, then stepped towards the woman, extending her hand.

The woman looked at it thoughtfully, then seemed to remember something.

She took the offered hand, shook it.

"20th century?" she asked, turning towards the Doctor.

He nodded, "Thereabouts."

She beamed, "Lovely."

"I'm…" she frowned, "I'm not sure what you should call me."

"Our names don't translate that well," she offered as an explanation to the Ponds.

She turned towards the Doctor, "Is that why they call you the Doctor?"

"Yes. And no," he answered. There was a moment of silence as they looked at each other, their eyes speaking volumes.

But Amy decided the volumes were in an alien language, because she couldn't decipher anything. All she was sure of was that the Doctor felt uncomfortable when it came to his real name.

"Sophia," the Doctor suddenly said.

"What?" the woman reacted with surprise.

The Doctor smiled, shrugged his shoulder, "Sophia is a good approximation."

She thought it over, then nodded, "It is. That's quite clever."

He smiled proudly, "Thank you."

She waved her hand, "Hello, I'm Sophia. Now, take me to your wardrobe."

To spare her husband any further discomfort, Amy took Sophia to get some clothes.

"So, I take you and Rory haven't been married long?" Sophia asked when they were far enough for the men not to hear them.

"No," Amy answered, realizing that she'd completely forgotten that their wedding hadn't been that long ago. Travelling in the TARDIS made one lose track of time.

"It's strange and exciting, isn't it?"

Amy smiled, feeling exactly that way, "Is that how it was with the Doctor and you?"

"Yes. Also, maddening and frustrating."

Amy chuckled, it was impossible for her to dislike the woman, "I know what you mean."

"I bet you do," Sophia said, an affectionate smile on her face.

She sighed, "You're going to be great together."

Amy raised a surprised eyebrow, "We are? How would you know?"

Sophia smiled mysteriously, "Oh, I have my ways."

She frowned, "I'm not supposed to say anything…"

Amy chuckled, remembering something, "Spoilers?"

Sophia considered the it, then nodded with delight, "That's a good word."

A stranger telling her that she and Rory would have a good life together was a comforting thought and she wanted to know more.

But Sophia seemed determined to let it go and changed the subject, "How long have you known…the Doctor?"

Amy tried to think in exact terms but failed, "Most of my life, I guess."

The look that Sophia gave her unnerved her a little. It wasn't threatening or anything, but she felt like Sophia was seeing much more than Amy wanted to share.

"You like him," Sophia finally said, a rather delighted note in her voice.

"I do, yes," Amy answered, rather relieved by the approving tone.

Sophia chuckled, "Well, he isn't hard to like."

That made Amy laugh, "True."

"How long have you been travelling with him?"

Amy thought that she should be more alarmed about how she kept losing track of time, but somehow, she couldn't muster up the effort to care that much. She did try though, "Uh…well…I'm not sure actually. It's hard keeping time straight…"

"Time isn't straight. Actually, it is but at the same time isn't. It gets confusing if you're used to a rather linear progression of time," Sophia said and to Amy she sounded exactly like the Doctor when trying to explain the phenomenon of time travel.

"How do you cope?" Amy asked, curious and having never been able to ask the Doctor this because he just kept on and on about the science and the magic of it until he got distracted by something entirely different.

Sophia shrugged her shoulder, "Oh, we Gallifreyans have a very bad sense of time."

Amy laughed.

"Is that why he always turns up late?" she wanted to know.

"Still having trouble with that?" Sophia asked, looking like she knew exactly what Amy was on about.

"You'd think a man with a time machine wouldn't have that problem," Amy replied, rolling her eyes.

"You'd think," Sophia said, a sudden wistful tone in her voice.

It made Amy even more curious about her and the Doctor.

"So, you and the Doctor, married…" she lead only, forsaking subtlety.

Sophia nodded, amused, "Yes."

"How?"

"Oh, the usual way, I suppose."

"I mean…" Amy tried to explain but Sophia interrupted her.

"I know what you mean. It's just, ah…it's a long and complicated story, I guess."

There was this same closed off look on Sophia's face that the Doctor had when anything about his past was mentioned.

"I think there a lot of long and complicated stories that involve him," Amy said, a conclusion she thought most people would come to if they spent enough time with the Doctor.

"I'm sure there are," Sophia softly said.

Sophia's expression and the fact that they've arrived at the room that served as the wardrobe, kept Amy from prying any further.

The amused surprised look on Sophia's face was probably not dissimilar from her own expression the first time Amy had seen the place.

It was a rather fantastical bazaar of colors, fabrics and shapes. The girl in her could spend hours here, just sorting through the costumes, trying things on or just trying to figure out what things were.

"He's been everywhere," Amy said, echoing something the Doctor had told her.

Sophia picked up what looked like a Buddhist robe, "It looks like it."

She turned to Amy, smiled conspiratorially, "He'll deny it but he's secretly a hoarder."

Amy eyed the garment Sophia was holding, "You think? And what is that thing?"

There seemed to be something rather not right about it.

Sophia held it up, "Oh, that's a leisure frock from Agrathia. They have seven arms, which is a bit strange since they have a rather fanatical obsession with symmetry."

"Okay," Amy replied. Now that she knew what it was, the garment made more sense to her. Then again, there were designer fashion pieces she could think of that made less sense than that leisure frock.

"Excuse me," Sophia said and then proceeded to go through the assortment like the most experienced bargain hunter during sales week. In a seemingly short time, she'd put together an outfit.

A sunshine yellow lacy blouse paired with a vibrantly purple cardigan, a more muted purple colored skirt, lime and baby pink striped tights and dark brown half boots that Amy liked and wondered how she'd never seen them before. They probably wouldn't fit her anyway. Sophia was a good foot and a half shorter than her.

"Will this do?" Sophia asked, turning around slowly, showing herself to Amy. She seemed to have noticed the big full length mirror in the corner and walked over. She checked herself in it.

Amy decided that it must be a particularly Gallifreyan thing, this eccentricity when it came to clothing, "Yeah…"

Sophia looked at Amy's reflection in the mirror, "Judging by your face, this is rather horribly mismatched by human standards…"

Maybe Sophia wasn't that hopeless, Amy decided. She had to admit, though she'd never really pick that ensemble for herself, it did actually look quite nice on her.

"No, it's…you look really lovely," Amy said, and meaning it.

Sophia did look lovely, the colors, while rather loud, did complement Sophia's brunette features.

"I know the colors are a bit loud…but…" Sophia frowned, as if trying to remember something.

"Purple suits you," Amy said.

Sophia smiled, "Thank you. Shall we go back and rescue the men from themselves?"

Amy nodded. She definitely liked this woman.

"So, what do you do…does he go around, showing you all the highlights of the universe?" Sophia asked. They were walking back to the operating room.

"Kind of," Amy said, thinking of all the adventures she'd been on.

"That is so him."

Amy looked at Sophia, something in her tone perplexed her.

"Is it?" Amy asked, wondering about the kind of man the Doctor used to be.

As if she'd been able to read her mind, Sophia replied, "Oh yes. He was and probably always will be this larger than life, infuriating and brilliant mad man."

Amy laughed, "Yes, that's him."

"I hope he hasn't put you in any danger," Sophia said.

Amy didn't want to answer that.

Sophia sighed, "What am I saying, of course he has."

She looked at Amy, "I know he can be reckless and idiotically stupid sometimes, but he always does it with the best of intentions."

Amy sighed, "I know. That's why it's so hard to stay angry at him."

"Amen," Sophia replied and the two women laughed.

"Sometimes it feels like he's doing it on purpose…" Amy said.

"He's always hated quiet…" Sophia answered, but stopped. She frowned, looking confused. She stopped walking.

"Are you alright?" Amy asked, noticing Sophia's expression.

Sophia shook her head, as if trying to shake something off, "Yeah, sorry, just a flash of something…"

"Okay…" Amy said, looking concerned.

Sophia's face had turned pale. She looked at Amy, her eyes full of questions.

"Silence will fall."

tbc


	5. While I'm alone and blue as can be…

**Dream a Little Dream of Me**

_While I'm alone and blue as can be…_

Rory had always thought that watching emotions flit across Amy's face was one of the most beautiful things in the world.

But judging by the look on her face now, she was clearly agitated and Rory didn't like agitated Amy.

"Doctor, she knows about the silence," she said, confusion and a little panic in her voice.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"Silence will fall," Sophia said.

"How do you know…"

Sophia shook her head, "I was there. In the void… but not the void."

"What?" the Doctor grabbed Sophia's arm

She looked at him, clearly disturbed by something, "I can't …there were cracks…I don't remember…I can't remember…"

Amy interjected, "But Doctor, I thought the cracks, we closed them…you closed them…"

The Doctor shook his head, "We still don't know what caused them."

Rory frowned, "I thought it was because the TARDIS exploded…"

Sophia looked at him with shock, "What?"

Rory tried to explain, "The TARDIS exploded, the universe ended and the Doctor brought it back."

"The TARDIS exploded? How can that bring about the end of the universe? It regenerates, like you," she looked at the Doctor for some explanation.

"I wasn't in it when it happened…I can only assume it was because the eye…" he answered, clearly unsure of how it happened himself.

"But you cannot destroy the eye unless…"

"It is impossible," the Doctor stated, finality in his tone.

"Improbable, not impossible," Sophia argued.

The Doctor looked at her, anger and affection in his eyes, "Damn you."

"I cannot believe you haven't thought about this," she said, looking at the center of the TARDIS.

He sighed, "I have."

"And?"

He just shook his head sadly, "There's a time and place for everything."

She scoffed, "Proverbs?"

There was anger and frustration in his voice, "I'm not avoiding this! But I cannot sit around all the time thinking about it. It will drive me insane. Or maybe it already has. I mean, look at you. You are here, speaking of the silence I don't want to hear."

Silence fell. The Doctor stood there, his body tense, his eyes haunted.

Sophia touched him gently on the arm, "You think you're being punished, don't you?"

"I ran away and look at me now…"

Rory thought he saw tears glistening in the Doctor's eyes. This wasn't the Doctor he knew. This wasn't the Doctor who gleefully proclaimed that he was going to kick start the universe again.

Sophia put her other hand on his face, cupping it gently, "Has it ever occurred to you that we let you go?"

It was an almost imperceptible movement, the Doctor leaned into her hand.

"You died," he whispered.

"Yes, because you and…you needed to live. You had to live. Or everything would have been lost. Everything will be lost," she whispered back.

He put his hand on her hand, "What did you see when you looked into the Schism?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Because… at the moment I can't really remember…" she said, her grin irreverent.

"Oh," the Doctor reacted. He couldn't help it, he grinned back.

"Besides, you're not supposed to know," she added.

"Spoilers?"

She gave him a bemused look, "There's that word again."

"Can you tell me if it's good or bad?" he asked, a rather cheeky smile on his face now.

Still bemused, she replied, " There is no good or bad…"

"…there is just the end," the Doctor finished.

"We had this conversation before," Sophia remarked, surprised by this.

"Déjà vu? Really?" the Doctor looked skeptical.

"Time is a bit muddled in my head right now. Everything is a bit muddled," she answered apologetically.

"As soon as you think you've got it figured it out, everything gets confusing again!" Rory exclaimed. He was sure that before meeting the Doctor, being confused didn't occupy most of his time.

The Doctor turned to him, " Rory my man, mate-y, fellow…man. You are right!"

This made poor Rory even more confused, "I am?"

"Of course! There's no point in us standing around here, discussing things to death. Leron waits outside the doors. Let us explore Leron!"

"Doctor, that's just…" Amy wanted to say but he interrupted her.

"Ah, Pond. I know, I know. But if this is a dream, it is most definitely my dream. I mean, why would you or Rory dream of my wife? Naked. And if it is a dream, then I don't see the harm in us enjoying the wonders of Leron. If it is a dream, Leron might even be more fantastical and magical than it actually is. Trust me, I have a very active imagination."

"But…" Amy tried to say, but the Doctor wouldn't let her finish again.

"Besides, a change of scenery would do us all good. It would certainly do me good. I often find that when I'm trying to work out something, not thinking about it helps."

"You're strange," Amy replied.

"Thank you," the Doctor replied, not hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"So, what are we doing now?" Rory thought it would be best if he just asked because he wasn't sure of anything anymore and just wanted clear instructions.

"You are putting your coats back on," the Doctor pointed at Rory and Amy. The obeyed.

He pointed at Sophia, who clearly wasn't dressed for sub-zero conditions, "You'll be fine."

"But it says here it's freezing out there!" Rory protested, pointing at the monitor.

Sophia waved her hand dismissively, "Gallifreyan. Not really bothered by that bit of cold."

"Then why is the Doctor wearing a coat and scarf?" Rory wanted to know.

"Because coats and scarves are cool," the Doctor replied, in a well-duh tone.

"Right," Rory said.

"So we're all just going to ignore the situation and have some fun on Leron?" Amy asked, sounding unsure.

The Doctor, who was already by the door, turned back to grin at her, "Basically, yes."

Amy looked at Rory. He just shrugged a response. She looked at Sophia, who merely smiled.

"Alright then," Amy commented, grabbed Rory's hand and raced towards the door.

Sophia followed at a more dignified pace.

The Doctor's face was full of excitement as he dramatically announced, "Ponds, welcome to Leroy!"

He opened the door of the TARDIS and they stepped outside into what Rory's Earth brain described as a winter wonderland.

"Look at the snow! And the sky! And the snow! Rory! Look at the snow!" Amy exclaimed.

He looked at her face, glowing with childish joy. She looked beautiful.

"It's beautiful," Rory replied.

He'd never seen so much snow, so much whiteness. He thought it would be blinding, but somehow it wasn't. In the far distance, he could see hills, though he wasn't sure if it was just an optical illusion brought on by the whiteness.

Not far away was an ice palace. The Doctor had mentioned that earlier. That must be the resort.

He was about to point it out to Amy, but she was lying in the snow, moving her arms and legs.

"Rory! Rory!" she called, "Come and make snow angels with me!"

He rushed over, dropped into the powdery white, surprisingly dry, snow and mimicked Amy's movements.

He could hear the Doctor and Sophia laughing, but it sounded like it came from far away. He turned his head to look at Amy. She was smiling at him, thoroughly enjoying herself.

Then a rather naughty glint came into her eye and Rory didn't even have to ask what she was thinking because he knew that look. He'd been a victim of that look enough times before.

Amy twisted her head, looking for the Doctor. She looked back at Rory and he knew what he had to do.

He got up, thought he had to shake the snow off his clothes, but it was so powdery that it gently fell to the ground with the slightest of Rory's movements.

He winked at Amy, who had put on an air of complete innocence. His wife, the sneaky snow angel.

"Doctor!" he called, to get the attention of the man.

He'd been speaking with Sophia, looking relaxed and had seemingly accepted the woman's presence as normal.

The Doctor beamed at him, "Yes?"

Usually, he wasn't this nimble or quick-witted but the wrath of Amy was involved so his brain worked double time, though he did struggle for a second to come up with something plausible.

He looked up and it occurred to him. He pointed up, "The sky, Doctor. It's very blue. You said something earlier about why?"

Nothing like a complicated scientific explanation to excite the Doctor, "Ah yes! The blue sky. Almost TARDIS blue, isn't it?"

He proceeded to go into a very technical but typically rambling explanation that involved ions and ozone or something, Rory couldn't keep quite up. The bit of his brain that was a science nut actually enjoyed the Doctor's lecture, even noting some things it needed to look up later. The TARDIS had a big enough library, there was bound to be some reference text in there.

However, most of his brain was busy trying to stay calm and relaxed and cool and not at all worried that the Doctor might see through his ruse. He was desperately avoiding looking at Amy, approaching the Doctor from behind.

'Just focus on the Doctor's face,' Rory thought.

A quieter thought followed, 'That scarf is distracting.'

The Doctor was now in full swing, visibly enjoying the lecture, "…and then of course there's the auroras…you have them on Earth as well…beautiful ghostly things…you haven't really…"

"Hey Doctor!"

The Doctor stopped his rambling, turned, saw something white fly towards his face.

Then everything turned black.

tbc


	6. Sweet dreams til sun beams find you…

**Dream a Little Dream of Me**

_Sweet dreams til sun beams find you…_

"Doctor!"

"Doctor…"

He wondered how Amy and Rory's voices could sound so near and so far away at the same time.

"Doctor." Just Rory this time and he sounded concerned.

He turned his head. Then it occurred to him that opening his eyes would help.

He did and was confronted with Rory's rather worried face.

'Good old Rory,' he thought and smiled.

Rory's face went from worried to relieved. At least the Doctor thought that was what human relieved looked like.

"Good. You're awake," Rory said, suddenly wiggling a tiny pen light in front of the Doctor's face.

Finding it rather distracting, he pushed Rory's hand away, sat up and immediately checked for his legs.

'Still there,' he thought, then wondered briefly what his preoccupation with legs was.

He noticed Amy standing behind Rory, having an almost identical relieved expression as her husband. Then he noticed that she was standing above Rory, which made him notice that Rory was in fact crouched down, which made him notice that he was sitting on a rather comfortable couch like thing. A very soft furry couch like thing.

It took him a couple of seconds to get his bearings but he still thought it'd be better to ask.

"What happened?"

He noticed the Ponds exchanging quick worried glances, then Rory answered, "You slipped and banged your head."

The Doctor felt the back of his head, where he could definitely feel a sore spot, "I assumed so."

"Is he alright?" Amy asked Rory.

He shrugged his shoulders, "His pupils reacted normally, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing considering his alien anatomy."

"That's definitely a good thing," the Doctor replied, looking around.

"I don't think he's alright," Amy said.

The Doctor focused back on her, smiled proudly, "Nah, just a little bump on the head, nothing regeneration worthy…"

"What?" Rory asked, confused.

The Doctor looked at him, "Oh that, well…long story…many details…boring details…where's Sophia?"

"What?" Rory asked.

"Who?" Amy asked.

"Sophia. "

"Who's Sophia?" the Ponds asked in unison.

"My wife…" the Doctor answered, sounding a little unsure.

"Your what?" Amy exclaimed.

Rory got out his pen light again and waved it in front of the Doctor's face.

"He must have banged his head harder than we thought," he mumbled.

Again, the Doctor pushed Rory's hand away. It took him another couple of seconds to sort things out.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

Amy shrugged her shoulder, "Five, ten minutes, I don't know."

The Doctor looked like he was considering this.

"Right. And you two know nothing about Sophia?" he asked, just to make sure.

"Your wife?" Amy asked, rather skeptically.

"Hey! You don't have to sound so skeptical! She's real, you know," he replied, clearly affronted.

Amy looked taken aback a bit.

"At least she was…once," the Doctor added softly.

If he hadn't figured it by now, which by the way he already had, the look on the Ponds' faces would've told him that his suspicions were true.

"Tell me, how did I bang my head?"

"You slipped and fell," Rory supplied.

"Why did I slip?"

A quick look at Amy and Rory replied, "Because you were rushing over to the buffet…"

"I what?" the Doctor exclaimed. He thought that was a rather undignified act, even for him.

"You said something about gelatinous somethings, rushed off, bumped into a waiter, slipped and fell," Amy said.

"Made quite a spectacle of yourself," Rory added.

"I was rushing towards the buffet? …Oh wait, I remember, gelatinous lorm beans were involved, that's alright then." The Doctor cheered up at the thought of the treat.

"Right," they said, in that tone and with that look that the Doctor was soon going to call the Ponds' 'The Doctor is a bit odd' look. He wondered what other particular looks he could name.

"So, who's Sophia?" Amy interrupted his thoughts.

"What? Oh that. Nothing. Just a dream. Just a blip in the old noggin. Gelatinous lorm beans. It's been a while," the Doctor said, still a bit distracted by the mental look labeling exercise.

Then he remembered the treat, "Did you bring me any?"

"What?" Rory asked. The Doctor was sure that was Rory's beleaguered 'there's too much strange stuff going on at once and I just want a nice pint' look.

"Beans…" the Doctor said.

Rory scowled, shaking his head, "No! After you made a spectacle of yourself, you were carried off to the clinic."

The Doctor looked around the room.

He thought that it had a rather sterile ambience, "This is the clinic, then. Nice."

"I think he's still a little confused from the accident," Amy said

"I think he's always a little confused…or confusing," Rory mumbled.

"Hey! That's no way to talk about a man who had nasty fall," the Doctor complained, not really minding. It was nice having people around who were concerned for him.

"Sorry," Rory muttered, while Amy just rolled her eyes.

The Doctor beamed at them, "That's alright. Let's get some lorm beans!"

After a bit of arguing and shuffling, the Doctor convinced them that he was indeed quite alright, the Ponds let him up and they made their way back to the buffet.

The hall was now empty, save for a few leisurely diners.

The Doctor worried that there wouldn't be any beans left, knowing how delicious they were. Luckily, there was just enough to fill two dessert cups and a rather large plate.

Leading the Ponds to a table near the window, the magical Leron sky just about getting darker, he commented, "We have to go see the aurora show later."

He sat down, placed his full plate of gelatinous lorm beans carefully on the table and sat back, caressing the treat with his eyes.

"You brilliant, beautiful, sexy things you! You are so worth saving the universe for," he said.

Then he stuffed his face with it. The explosion of taste rendered him completely unaware of his surroundings for a good minute or so.

"So, you were married once?" he heard someone say. He slowly came out of the lorm bean fog, ordering himself to focus on whoever was talking.

"Huh?" he managed to get out. He recognized Amy speaking.

"Were we in the dream?"

Tiny explosions were still going off in his mouth so he couldn't really concentrate on the conversation, "What?"

"The one with your wife."

"What?" he said again and then suddenly the lorm bean effect was gone and reality snapped back into place.

"Since you asked us if we saw…Sophia? Sophia. That must mean that we were in the dream too," Amy went on.

Brain processes still being occupied with storing away the memory of lorm beans, he could not come up with anything to distract her and therefore said, "Not necessarily. But yes you were."

It was obvious by Amy's face that she wasn't going to let this go easily, "Was it a good dream?"

"I don't know," he replied, not liking how truthful that sounded.

"Okay," Amy said, making a hand gesture that looked like she wanted him to continue. Her face certainly said so.

The Doctor frowned, tried to concentrate, remembered the dream fully, "It was strange. Not just because of her. I was you," he pointed at Amy and then at Rory, "and you in my dream…"

Rory looked a bit freaked out by that, "What?"

The Doctor was remembering now, "I was in your heads, seeing my dream from your perspectives."

He gave Rory an insulted look, "And by the way, I do know what the controls do…"

Rory, still clueless, "The what?"

The Doctor scoffed, "Manuals are boring, anyway."

He couldn't remember any time before now, when Rory looked more confused or lost.

"And you clearly have no idea what I'm talking about," he said.

Rory shook his head, "Nope."

The Doctor nodded, "Good."

"So you had a wife?" The Doctor looked at Amy. Amy, the girl who would not let go of a subject.

He looked at the married couple. It was still a bit mind boggling to him that they were married to each other. But the two of them together made sense. He couldn't say how or why, but the two of them together made sense. They belonged.

He remembered a time when he felt like he belonged.

"Once upon a time," he softly said.

Before Amy could say anything further, he quickly changed the subject. Amy seemed hesitant to let it go, but a look from Rory and she let it be.

'Good old Rory,' the Doctor thought.

* * *

There was still a faint trace of the aurora in the sky, as the three of them made their way back to the TARDIS.

"And how did you like Leron?" the Doctor asked, pretty sure of their answer.

"It's beautiful," Amy said.

"The aurora was magical," Rory said.

Amy giggled teasingly, mocking his tone, "Magical?"

"They were," Rory said, defensively.

'Ah, the Ponds,' the Doctor thought fondly, watching the two of them.

"It's rather a little gem of a planet, isn't it?" he said, feeling rather proud of the place.

"I'd like to come back some day," Amy said.

The Doctor nodded benevolently, "That can be arranged."

"Promise?" Amy asked, just a hint of doubt in her voice.

He looked at her and nodded sincerely.

"Doctor, why is the sky so blue?" Rory suddenly asked.

The Doctor looked at the man surprised, "I already told you about that."

He shook his head, "Erm, no."

The Doctor frowned, remembering, "Yes, yes, just before Amy hit me with a snowball!"

He pointed at her accusingly "Sneaky girl!"

And then at Rory "And sneaky Rory!"

"I what?" asked Amy, incredulous.

The Doctor thought about it for a second, "Oh, that was my dream. "

He pointed a stern finger at Amy, "And don't get any ideas."

"What, me?" she said innocently, but the Doctor did not buy that for a nanosecond.

However, she was faster.

She quickly scooped up a handful of snow and threw it in the Doctor's face.

She giggled.

"This means war, Pond," he said gravely and scooped up a handful himself.

Shrieking, Amy ran to hide behind Rory, who got the most of the Doctor's attack.

They snowball fought all the way back to the TARDIS, laughing themselves silly.

"Shake off the snow, Ponds and let's have cocoa and biscuits in the library," the Doctor said, unlocking the door of the TARDIS.

Amy rolled her eyes, "You're such a grandpa sometimes."

The moment he stepped into the TARDIS, he knew something was wrong.

Then he saw her.

"This is impossible," he said.

"Improbable, but not impossible," she answered.

"Doctor?" Amy asked.

"Definitely the spores," the Doctor mumbled.


	7. Say Nighty night and kiss me…

**Dream a Little Dream of Me**

_Epilogue_

_Or Prologue_

_Say "Nighty night" and kiss me…_

"One day, this will all be just a story."

She turned to look at him.

He smiled, "A fairy tale…"

Her forehead crinkled, "Maybe more like a cautionary tale."

He frowned, wondering if the sadness he'd seen in her eyes had been real, "I prefer the fairy one."

She chuckled, "Of course you do."

She sighed, "Then again, you will be a legend."

He considered that, "A legend, huh? I definitely like that."

She laughed, a bright joyous sound.

He reached out a hand to touch her face affectionately.

She turned her head to kiss his palm. "I love you," she whispered into it.

She looked back at him.

"I love you," he said, knowing it would always be true.

They looked up, as beautiful purple fireworks exploded across the deep orange sky.

_The End._

_Or The Beginning._


End file.
